Well, much of the Christmas holiday was spent at "Chez Trauma", the on-call apartment at the hospital where Gary works. I cooked dinner Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and we opened Christmas presents there on Thursday. He was on call Saturday and again yesterday, but now is off for a week.

[*whew*]

We had planned a lunch today with some of our current and former colleagues - the "Witches of Sedgwick". Unfortunately, Kathy and Nan had to drop out at the last minute, but Jennifer, Ellen, Anne, Jane and I went and had a nice time. We said we'll try to do it again sometime soon - we'll see how well we do with our plans.

I have to hand it to the Mars Candy company for a novel approach to product promotion.

M&M's Candy Fades to Black and White

NEW YORK (Reuters) - M&M's, the colorful button-shaped candies, are about to go off color for the first time in 60 years, but it remains to be seen whether their fans love or hate the change.

The chocolate-filled sugar-coated candies, made by a division of U.S. confectioner Mars Inc., will be available in only black and white for the next few months instead of the standard six colors as part of a promotional campaign.

Mars' Masterfoods USA division, which also markets chocolate brands such as Snickers, will launch the chiaroscuro version in the United States on Dec. 31. But some stores that ran out of the colorful stock have already received supplies of the new variety.

The candy is sold in more than 100 countries, but the black and white ones will be available only in the United States.

"Many tourists from places like London are buying them because it is not available in their country," said Yahya Tai, the owner of a New York City newspaper and candy stand who has started selling the new M&M's.

But the company plans to bring back the colored candy to the market after the promotion runs its course in a few months.

[I've been trying to use the word "chiaroscuro" in a sentence for a while.]

Quote du jour:

"Candy,/ Is dandy,/ But Liquor,/ Is quicker."

-- Ogden Nash (1902 - 1971) US poet

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